Sermon Notes
______
Part I
4/2/2017
Pastor Tim D. Stevens
To Know God
& Make Him Known
Investigating the Case for Christ
Acts 8:26-39 NKJV
26Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” 30So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
33In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” 34So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
Spiritual Sticking Point #1: I ______ Believe
John 20:25 NIV So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Spiritual Sticking Point #2: I Don’t ______to Believe
John 3:19 NIV
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Spiritual Sticking Point #3: I Don’t Know ______to Believe
Acts 8:34-35 NIV
34The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Romans 6:23 NIV
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Spiritual Sticking Point #4: I Do Believe; Isn’t That ______?
James 2:19 NIV
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
John 1:12 NIV
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—